Ahead of elections, White House shares video of Catholic bishops praying over Trump
A video posted by President Donald Trump’s campaign account and a White House communications adviser shows Catholic bishops praying over Trump in the Oval Office less than two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections. The Archdiocese of Denver confirmed the gathering and welcomed continued conversation on the sanctity of life and human dignity; the USCCB said it did not organize or participate in arranging it. The identities of the other bishops and the timing of the meeting could not be independently confirmed. The report notes divided Catholic voter preferences and cites USCCB president Archbishop Paul Coakley’s call for Catholics to put faith before politics and assess candidates by their actions and the common good.
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Less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the White House and Trump’s campaign shared video of Catholic bishops praying with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The meeting drew scrutiny over its timing and political optics, while church representatives and White House officials described it as prayer and policy engagement rather than an endorsement of a candidate or party. 1
The video, posted on Oct. 22, showed Trump seated as bishops stood around him, some placing hands on him while an archbishop led a prayer for the president and the country. Paula White-Cain, Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser and a senior White House Faith Office adviser, was also present.
ZENIT identified Denver Archbishop James Golka as the prayer’s leader and reported that more than half a dozen other prelates attended, including Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee and Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas. The White House Faith Office said the discussions covered religious freedom, school choice, religious visas, family tax credits and life-related policies, and ended with prayer for the president. 1
The Archdiocese of Denver said it welcomed continued conversation about the sanctity of life and human dignity, and invited people to pray for the nation’s leaders. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it had not organized the gathering and was not affiliated with it.
ZENIT reported that Mario Enzler, a Heritage Foundation official, had spent several weeks inviting bishops to the White House. Some bishops reportedly declined because of concerns about the optics so close to the election; other accounts suggested some attendees may not have anticipated how the images would be used publicly. These details were attributed to reporting by The Pillar and other accounts, and the articles did not establish that the bishops knowingly took part in an electoral publicity effort. 1
White House Faith Office head Jenny Korn characterized the encounter as policy engagement, not a political event. The timing and public circulation of images featuring bishops and the president nevertheless prompted questions about the meeting’s implications. 1
The meeting came amid both areas of agreement and disagreement between the Trump administration and Catholic bishops. ZENIT cited shared interests in religious liberty, school choice and some pro-life initiatives, alongside bishops’ criticism of mass deportation policies, the administration’s handling of abortion medication and Trump’s support for in vitro fertilization. 1
Catholic voters were not clearly aligned with either party in the October Pew survey cited by both reports: 42% favored Democratic House candidates, 39% favored Republicans, and 19% were undecided or supported another candidate. The issues facing voters included immigration, economic pressures and social welfare, as well as abortion and religious freedom. 1
On Oct. 14, USCCB president Archbishop Paul Coakley urged Catholics to put faith before politics and assess candidates by their actions and commitment to the common good. 1*
The Church’s prophetic mission amid partisan political power and the common good
The Church’s prophetic mission in political life is neither to seize partisan power nor to retreat into silence. It is to proclaim and apply the Gospel’s moral truth to public life: naming threats to human dignity, defending people who are vulnerable, and calling political authority to serve the common good. That witness must be independent of party loyalties, while remaining engaged with the real consequences of political choices.
“Prophetic” here does not mean predicting political events. It means speaking truthfully about the moral quality of social and political life in light of faith and reason. The International Theological Commission describes the Church as living amid contests for power and ideologies, yet not being bound to any particular political system. The Church must avoid being captured by power-seekers, but it must also avoid treating detachment or silence as the proper religious response to injustice.
This distinction matters because political parties and movements can seek religious approval for their own projects. A party may support some policies consistent with Catholic principles while opposing or neglecting others. If the Church becomes identified with a party, its witness risks being reduced to that party’s platform, and its ability to challenge wrongdoing across political lines is weakened. The US bishops accordingly state that the Church may participate in political life and speak about moral questions, but should not champion a candidate or party. Its cause is the defense of human life and dignity and the protection of those who are weak and vulnerable.
Nonpartisanship, however, does not require moral neutrality. The Church is not called to stand equidistant from justice and injustice, or to keep quiet when people’s dignity and basic rights are being crushed. The International Theological Commission warns that the Church can share responsibility for injustice if it fails to denounce the suffering of the poor and oppressed, especially if it helps conceal or perpetuate their situation. It therefore calls the Church to examine social order under the guidance of faith.
The common good offers a moral standard beyond partisan advantage. Politics, in Catholic teaching, is not merely a contest for office or an exchange of favours among powerful interests. It is a public vocation concerned with the well-being of all. The bishops describe political engagement as action through institutions for the benefit of everyone, directed toward a society in which people and families have what they need to fulfil their human calling.
That standard exposes the limits of political rhetoric. A policy or slogan should be assessed not only by whether it helps a preferred group, wins an election, or strengthens a party, but by how it affects human dignity, the vulnerable, and the conditions in which people can flourish. The bishops identify these as central concerns for Catholic political engagement, and insist that moral convictions—not attachment to a party or interest group—should guide citizens’ choices.
The prophetic voice is therefore both critical and constructive. It challenges political corruption, intimidation, injustice, and economic abuse; but its aim is not merely to condemn. The International Theological Commission links prophetic denunciation to the demands of justice and solidarity in everyday political life. The Church’s witness should help orient public power toward service rather than domination.
The Church’s mission is distinct from the state’s political role. Church leaders do not possess a mandate to govern the political community or to prescribe every technical detail of public policy. The bishops, drawing on Deus Caritas Est, explain that the Church must not take over the political struggle to establish the most just society or replace the state. Yet it must not remain on the sidelines of the struggle for justice: it helps form consciences and clarifies the moral requirements that political action should respect.
This requires care about what the Church teaches and what it leaves to responsible judgment. Some moral principles cannot be abandoned; other questions concern how best to apply those principles in particular circumstances. The bishops distinguish, for example, between fundamental moral principles and judgments about the most fitting policy response. Catholics may sometimes reasonably differ about such applications, but that disagreement does not make moral principles optional or remove the need for serious engagement with them.
The Church’s prophetic credibility also depends on its conduct. Its public words cannot be separated from how its members treat people in need or whether its institutions actually serve them. The Church’s experience in caring for the sick, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, assisting families in crisis, and welcoming migrants is part of its contribution to political life—not a substitute for public advocacy, but a witness that gives its moral claims practical substance.
The prophetic mission belongs to the Church as a whole, but clergy and lay people contribute in distinct ways. Bishops and other pastors have a responsibility to teach the Church’s moral and social principles, help form consciences, and guide the faithful on the moral dimensions of public decisions. They should do so without endorsing or opposing candidates.
Lay Catholics, meanwhile, have a particular responsibility to bring Christian moral judgment into the ordinary institutions and decisions of civic life. This includes participation in political debate and public service, where citizens must weigh actual issues and policies. The bishops emphasize that lay people are not simply recipients of political guidance; they have an active role in shaping society in the light of the Gospel.
Pope John Paul II praised the bishops’ contribution to public discussion when it brought the Gospel to bear on contested questions through both religious conviction and arguments accessible to reason and law. In his account, that kind of witness serves the common good in a democracy. It suggests a way to speak publicly that is firm about moral truth yet willing to offer reasons and engage others respectfully.
When the Church or individual Catholics address partisan political power, several questions help keep the witness faithful:
The prophetic mission is demanding because it rejects two temptations at once: partisan capture and convenient silence. The Church must remain free to challenge power wherever it violates dignity or justice, while helping citizens pursue the common good through morally responsible public action.